Talk to me about staying off site...pros and cons

[maxiesmom]

One other pro...since most have been mentioned already...for staying offsite would be getting your car at the end of the night. No long bus lines to get back to your resort. The shuttles come really quickly, we had hardly any wait, that being said, there are way more pro's to staying onsite. And if you want to add to the magic of your vacation, there is no other way to go.

But you can run into pretty bad traffic snarls if you leave the park with the rest of the crowd. But at least you will for sure have a seat, right?

 

[TheSouthernBelle]

alright...I know staying in the magic disney bubble is amazing and trust me I want to. We are already booked at port orleans and it's about 2000 for 7 days. I get a discount at a Disney springs hotel and it's 700 for the 7 days. Huge difference! We use uber so that's a added cost for transportation but it's minimal. Talk to me...who has stayed offsite?? Are there fast passes available 30 days out?

We have done both on and off site. We prefer onsite since we are bubblized if that's a word and yes it's at a premium price. My biggest con with offsite is that loss of magic. When we do off site it's for family that are meeting us in the area but not doing WDW. When we visited last Feb we stayed at Gaylord Palms and as nice as that hotel/resort was it's not the same. We had no issues with FP+, they are still there at 30 days just will be hit or miss for the tier 1 attractions. And then after the magic loss my second con of staying off site is the loss of EMH. To me, that was the only way we were able to get on FOP at Pandora last time.

 

[ExpatDisneyLover]

My last trip I couldn't find a Disney resort in my budget for my time frame. I am very much a Disney bubble fan. As a consolation I decided to book Cabana Bay at Universal- because I felt like it had a little more to it than just a generic hotel outside of Disney. It was less than $100/night and I had a rental car. I ended up spending a lot more time at Universal and enjoyed being close to everything there - short bus to City Walk and boat transportation, lots of resort amenities, lots of restaurants and activities to explore. This being my first Universal trip (I have annual passes for both Universal and WDW), I was very happy with my choice - and honestly found myself just enjoying the relaxed ambiance at Universal - go figure! I did spend a few days at Disney but really spent more time at Universal - which surprised me. Next trip I want to book Disney bubble all the way. For me being onsite at Disney helps my Disney trips feel a little bit less chaotic somehow - not driving, letting Disney take care of luggage etc. But I will say that IMO Universal resorts have a lot to offer and are good value and I will definitely book again.